Search Party
by Jillman66
Summary: *** PART 5 UP NOW! STORY COMPLETE!!!*** When Gage and Sydney are kidnapped, it is up to Walker and Trivette to find them. Please read and review.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimers: I do not own or lay claim to Walker, Texas Ranger or the characters Walker, Gage, Sydney, Trivette or Alex. This was written for entertainment purposes only.

Search Party Part 1

Chapter 1: Ranger Headquarters

It had been a slow day for the rangers of company B. On a bright, sunny, mid-April afternoon it seemed as if all of the criminals were basking in the beautiful weather and were, at the same time, staying out of trouble. Recently, Dallas had been caught up in a month full of rainstorms and it was the first time in weeks that the sun decided to shine. Walker and Trivette had been in court all morning and took the afternoon off. Sydney and Gage were the only two left in the office because while the rest of the rangers had taken the afternoon off, Walker insisted his two younger rangers stay incase something went down.

"Hey Syd, why are we sitting inside when it is so nice out?" Gage questioned her.

Sydney looked up from her desk, "Because we have paper work, Gage."

"Oh," he answered. A minute later, he let out a large sigh as if he was trying to grab Sydney's attention.

"What is it Gage?"

"I hate paper work," he answered.

"Walker said that when we finished all of our paper work, we could leave. So the sooner you finish, the sooner you can go play outside." Sydney responded as a smile came over her face.

"Play outside? Ha! I was thinking more of a stroll through that park near my house."

"How manly, a stroll through the park." Sydney said as she began to laugh.

"It's a really nice park. You should join me." At this point, Gage began to blush and looked down at the piece of paperwork that was sitting on his desk. Not that a walk in the park with Sydney would be considered a date or anything, but he imagined himself and his partner walking hand in hand across the large green pasture.

Snapping Gage back to reality, Sydney said, "If you're serious, I would love to join you. Sounds like it would be a nice way to end a relaxing day."

"Yeah, I'm serious. It will be nice."

After about an hour more of filling out paper work, the pair headed out. The two had decided that they would go in Gage's car to his house, walk to the park from there and Gage would drop her back off at headquarters to pick up her car later.

Chapter 2: Stonelake Park

"This park is really nice Gage. It's huge," Sydney said after they had entered the park gates. She had seen the park from the street, but she had never really noticed how large it was.

"Hey Syd," Gage said.

"Yea, Gage, what is it?"

"Since we are off duty now, don't you think we should take our badges off?" Gage wanted this experience to be as far away from a ranger detail as possible. Both had already removed their guns and left them in Gage's car.

"Yeah, that way people who are after revenge won't try to kill us in the middle of this huge park with about fifty witnesses because they won't notice we are rangers if we aren't wearing our badges." Sydney answered sarcastically.

"Do what you want," Gage answered, "but I am taking mine off." At that moment, he removed his badge from his shirt and slipped it into his pants pocket. Though Sydney didn't really understand Gage and his reasoning for removing his pin, she removed hers from her shirt and put it in the pocket of her shirt.

The pair walked in a comfortable silence for about a half hour. They both were enjoying the fresh air. The amount of people who were in the park was beginning to diminish. Also, the sun was beginning to set and there was a pleasant breeze. Neither ranger noticed the men hiding behind a rock wall about twenty feet in front of them.

"Ned," one of the men behind the rock wall whispered to one of his companions, "those two look like they will do."

"Yeah, Greg. A cute little couple. They will do fine."

"Why exactly are we kidnapping people?" one of the other men questioned.

"Well Carl, we are only kidnapping these two and one other specific girl. The boss needs them. He said he needs people to use to get ransom or something. I don't really know. All I know is he gave us a pretty nice amount of money to kidnap a few people and I really could care less why. Where did Bob roam off to?"

"He is bringing the car to the exit of the park." Greg answered pointing to a park exit about 10 feet away from them.

"Let's get 'em." Ned said.

At that point, the three men noticed Bob had the van in place. The men then pulled black ski masks over their heads and came out from their hiding spots. Sydney and Gage had their backs to the men.

"Gage! Look out!" Sydney screamed as she saw a man coming up behind Gage.

Gage dodged the swing his attacker had taken at him and Sydney began to fight the two other men. Gage's attacker was a good fighter and kept Gage busy. Sydney was holding her own with her attackers until one came up behind her and grabbed her in a bear hug. She used her feet to try to kick the other attacker, but he anticipated her move and grabbed her legs. The attacker that had come up behind her dropped her to the ground and she hit her head on the ground and was knocked unconscious. The man who had been holding her feet, picked her up as her other attacker pulled a gun on Gage who was still fighting the other man.

"SYDNEY!" Gage yelled as he saw one of the men running across the park with her motionless body in his arms.

"Not another word." The man with the gun said to Gage. "If you don't want me to go over there and shoot her, you'll quietly get in that van."

Gage had no other choice if he wanted to save Sydney. He stopped fighting and began to walk over to the van with the men. He had no idea how he was going to get himself and Sydney out of this mess but he hoped that Walker and Trivette would help them. Right near the gate of the park Gage subtly put his hand in his pocket, put his badge in his hand and dropped it to the ground hoping Walker would find it and know his two rangers were in trouble.

Chapter 3: Ranger Headquarters

Trivette had forgotten a file he had wanted to review on his desk so he had headed back to headquarters around seven that night. He was surprised to see Sydney's car still in the parking garage. He went upstairs to go to his desk and noticed the lights to the company B office were off. He got to the door and noticed that it was locked. He unlocked it and saw that Sydney's desk was clear.

He was a little worried because it was not like Sydney to leave her car in the parking garage over night. He decided to call her cell phone and her apartment to ask her if her car had died and if she wanted him to help her jump it or something. After receiving no answer at either place, he figured she might be with Gage, or at the very least Gage would know where she was. When he got no answer on Gage's phones either, he called Walker.

Ring! Ring!

"Hello," a feminine voice said.

"Hey Alex, is Walker around?"

"Sure, I'll get him." Alex said as she handed Walker the phone.

"Yeah Trivette, what's up?"

"Walker, I got this feeling something is wrong. Sydney's car is still here but she definitely isn't. I tried calling her and Gage and I am getting no answer on any of their phone lines."

"Is it possible that the two of them went out somewhere?" Walker asked.

"And not take their cell phones?"

"Maybe they noticed it was you calling and decided not to answer," Walker said as he laughed.

"Man, laugh all you want, but I got a bad feeling." Trivette said in a serious tone.

"Meet me at Gage's in fifteen minutes. If he is there, we will see what's up and ease your mind."

"See ya in fifteen." Trivette said as he hung up. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling something was wrong. He grabbed his hat and was on his way to Gage's place.

Chapter 4: Outside Gage's Apartment

Walker pulled up in his Ram and saw Trivette coming out of Gage's apartment building.

"He's not home Walker, but his car is here." Trivette said as he met Walker at the end of the walk way.

The two rangers walked over to Gage's car and peered inside.

"The doors are locked," Walker said, "and it looks like their guns are under the seats." Looking into the car, the rangers could see part of their gun holsters that weren't quite under the seats.

"So they removed their guns in Gage's car? Why didn't they put them in Gage's apartment?"

"Maybe they didn't go inside."

"So where did they go without their guns?"

"Hey Trivette, look across the street." Walker said pointing to the park gates across the street.

"Think they are walking?" Trivette asked. "It is a little dark," he commented noticing that the sun had almost completely set.

"Let's find out," Walker said as he jogged across the street, Trivette just paces behind him.

They entered the gates and noticed how large the park was. Walker and Trivette surveyed the park. Walker noticed a piece of metal about 5 feet in front of them. He walked over to it, picked it up and then turned back to Trivette.

"What Walker?"

"I agree, something is definitely wrong." Walker said as he held up the piece of metal he had just picked up off the ground so Trivette could see it.

"A ranger badge." Trivette said.

"I think it's Gage and Sydney's way of saying they are in trouble." Walker said. "Now all we have to do is find out what kind of trouble they are in."

"What are we going to do Walker?"

"We are going to find them."

"How?" Trivette asked as Walker stared down at the ranger star that was resting in the palm of his hand.


	2. Search Party Part 2

Disclaimers: I do not own or lay claim to Walker, Texas Ranger or the characters Walker, Gage, Sydney, Trivette or Alex. This was written for entertainment purposes only.

Search Party Part 2

Chapter 5: Inside a van

Gage and Sydney were in the back of the van for what Gage determined as about twenty minutes. Two of their captors kept them company and, ever since the ride had begun, no one spoke. The men allowed Gage to hold Sydney's unconscious body. Though the van was dark and he could not see her wounds, he felt blood on his hands from a gash on the back of her head.

Finally, Gage piped up, "What do you want with us? Where are we going?"

"No one said you could talk" Ned, one of the kidnappers, said to Gage.

"I got a question for you though," another one of the captors said.

Before Gage got a chance to answer, Ned said, "Don't ask him any questions, Carl. The less we know about them, the better."

"I wanna know what they do. You saw them ninja skills they got."

"Just shut up." Ned commanded and from that point on, the back of the van was silent.

It was at this point Gage tried to put things together. The martial arts skills of the rangers surprised them. It was only then that it dawned on Gage that these people probably weren't after rangers, but they were just trying to kidnap two people and he and Sydney just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. If that was the case, he was going to find out why. He had a feeling that this kidnapping was far more than four guys trying to get some ransom.

Chapter 6: Stonelake Park

Within the hour, the park was filled with law enforcement officials all looking for clues as to what happened to a pair of their best rangers. Walker and Trivette noticed a homeless man sleeping against a large rock.

"Excuse me, Sir, have you been in this park all evening?" Trivette asked as he shook the man's shoulder in an attempt to wake him up.

"All day, why?" the man drowsily asked.

"Well, I am Ranger Trivette, and this is Ranger Walker and we were wondering if you may have seen some friends of ours?" Trivette handed the man a picture of Gage and Sydney.

"I'm Paul, Paul Meshan," he said as he looked at the picture. "Yeah, I saw them two walking around here earlier. They were taken away."

"What do you mean, 'they were taken away'?" Walker questioned.

"Well, I was sitting her behind my rock and I heard some noises. I turned around and I saw three men jump the two in your picture."

"Did you see any of the men who attacked our friends?"

"No, they all had ski masks on."

"Three men?" Trivette questioned.

"Well, three came after them, but one of their friends or however was in the van."

"What van?" Walker asked.

"Well, your friends were fighting, and then two of them knocked the girl out and carried her off and into a black van over by the entrance. One of the guys pulled a gun on your male friend and forced him into the van."

"Did you see what type of van it was or the license plate number?" Trivette wondered.

"No, sorry to say I didn't." Paul answered.

"Well, Paul, thanks for your help." Walker said.

"No problem. I hope you find your friends."

"We will." Walker said as he and Trivette began walking away from the man.

"You think it's a personal vendetta?" Trivette questioned Walker.

"No, if Gage was able to drop his star, he probably already had it off prior to the attack. I think Sydney and Gage were victims of circumstance. Let's get back to headquarters."

On that note, the two partners hopped into Walkers Ram and headed downtown.

Chapter 7: Destination of the Van

"Okay, this is where we get out." Ned said.

"You carry the girl and don't try anything funny or we will shoot you both." Carl said to Gage.

The two men who were in the front of the van opened the doors and all of the people who were in back filed out. Two of the man lead Gage, with Sydney in his arms, and two walked behind him with guns aimed at him. They went inside of a rundown house and were led to the basement. After heading down the rickety, wooden stairs, Gage came to terms with his surroundings. There was an old cot and the room was very small room with cement walls and one very small window that was about 6 feet from the floor on one side of the room.

"Here's the deal. Do what we say and you won't get hurt." Bob the captor said. "We don't want to kill you, actually we will be selling you to someone else who needs you for something."

Gage was trying to soak in all of the details. Gage had lay Sydney down on the bed and was standing next to her. Gage tried to find a way to get out of this mess, but with Sydney not being able to fight or run from someone shooting at her, he figured he would have to wait until she woke up to try to get out of this mess. Two of the men still had guns aimed - one at him and one at Sydney.

One of the men pulled a small disposable camera from his coat pocket and said, "We need to prove we have you, so smile!" At that point the man started snapping pictures of Gage and Sydney.

"Now, so you don't get any ideas of using those ninja skills," Carl said, "we have these." The man held up two pairs of hand cuffs. He threw one pair at Gage. "Cuff your girlfriend." Fearing one of the men might shoot him or Sydney he did was he was told. He took her hands and cuffed them in front of her. He made sure not to cuff them too tight.

"Now, your turn." Carl roughly pushed Gage up against the wall and grabbed his arms. He cuffed Gage's arms behind his back and then pushed Gage toward the ground.

"We'll be back," one of the armed men said as the four trooped up the stairs.

Gage stared at Sydney trying to think of what he should do next.

Chapter 8: Ranger Headquarters

Walker and Trivette had spent nearly trying to get a lead on the black van but were getting no where fast. They needed more information than that it was a black van.

Alex walked into the Company B office and headed towards Walker's desk.

"Walker, I don't know if this has anything to do with Gage and Sydney's disappearance but I just got off the phone with a friend in California who works in the sheriff's office over there and they had a case just like this. A couple was abducted from a beach at about dusk. The abductors sold the couple to this other guy, John Slim, who used the couple to get the police to allow his and his brother safe passage into the next state as well as a few million dollars, assuring the police that the couple was alive and would be released when the crossed the state border."

"What happened?" Trivette questioned.

"Well, after Slim and his brother got into the next state, they gave the police an address where to find the couple and then Slim and his brother disappeared."

"Why do they need permission to pass from state to state?" Walker asked.

"Well, Slim's brother, really his half brother, Harold Colburn, is a fugitive on the run and wanted for murder in California. The police were closing in on him and that is when they figured they needed to get out of California."

"Now you think they might be in Dallas?" Walker asked Alex.

"Well, when the men left California, the FBI took over and last week the FBI notified my friend that these two might be in Dallas. If Slim and Colburn felt they were being closed in on, they might pull their trick again. It worked for them once."

"What happened to the couple?" Trivette wondered.

"They were found at the address beaten to death. The woman had signs of sexual abuse, so she was probably raped and then killed." Alex said. "If Slim has Gage and Sydney, we have to find them fast, Walker."

"Well, they will probably be contacting the police to guarantee them passage. Trivette send out a message to law enforcement officials through out Texas that if they are contacted, they send the people to us."

"Right, Walker."

"I'm scared, Walker. We need to find them." Alex stated.

"At least we know who we are dealing with. We will find them." Walker said as he pulled Alex into a light embrace.


	3. Search Party part 3

Disclaimers: I do not own or lay claim to Walker, Texas Ranger or the characters Walker, Gage, Sydney, Trivette or Alex. This was written for entertainment purposes only.

Search Party Part 3

Chapter 9: Cellar where Gage and Sydney are being held

Night had past and the morning light was beginning to seep through the small window of Gage and Sydney's prison. Gage had been sitting against the wall most of the night keeping a close watch on Sydney. With his hands cuffed behind his back he couldn't hold her nor tend to the wound on her head. She had shifted a lot during the night, so for the time being, he knew she was still alive. Gage could not see the watch on his hand due to the hand cuffs but from what he could gather, it was about 6 AM.

"Gage," Sydney weakly said.

"Yeah, Syd, I'm here. I'm glad you are talking."

"Where are we?"

"We are being held captive in a basement somewhere in Dallas."

"Oh." Sydney said realizing her hands were in cuffs as she tried to rub the back of her head. "Why are we in hand cuffs?" She asked. She was beginning to come to and was also becoming more alert.

"Our captors decided this would be the best way to contain our 'ninja' skills."

"Our what? Aren't ninjas martial arts phantoms?"

"No one said these guys were smart."

"Any idea how we are gunna get out of this predicament?" Sydney asked.

"Yeah, I purposely made sure your cuffs were loose."

"You cuffed me?"

"They told me to. They had guns on us. But that is not the point. These look like police issue hand cuffs and my keys are in my front pocket. You should be able to get your hand in my pant's pocket and get my keys." Gage stood up next to the cot as Sydney sat up.

"Go figure, us being kidnapped involves me sticking my hand in your pocket." Sydney stated in a sarcastic tone.

"Oh, you know you. . ."

"Don't finish that sentence." Sydney said as she pushed the cuff on her right wrist as far as she could up her arm and got the keys from Gage's pant's pocket.

Gage turned around and Sydney uncuffed him, then he relieved her of her cuffs. Gage looked at Sydney's head and other than some dried blood, a fresh scar at the base of her neck and a bump, she looked fine.

"You look ok. Do you feel all right?" Gage asked.

"I have a headache. That's all. Let's find a way out of here. Any ideas?"

Knowing that the captors had probably bolted the door or would at least be watching it, he pointed to the small window in the room emitting the only light into the room.

"I had a feeling you were gunna suggest that." Sydney said as sighed heavily knowing what they would need to do to escape.

Chapter 10: Ranger Headquarters

Walker and Trivette had spent until 1 AM trying to track down leads on black vans but decided they were going to have to wait until the kidnappers made contact before they would really be able to do anything. They both, along with Alex, were back in the office at 7 AM waiting for word about their missing colleagues.

Finally Alex came through the company B door with something that may help the case.

"Contact has been made!" She announced. "When the governor got into the office this morning, he found a fax from a copy center on the south side of Dallas. The people who sent the fax said they have two hostages and they want to make a deal. They want passage into the next state and four million dollars wired to an offshore account in the Bahamas."

"Did they leave a way that we can contact them?" Walker asked.

"Nope, they said they would get in touch with us. More waiting." Alex said as she sighed.

"Trivette, let's check out that copy center, see if anyone remembers seeing men get out of a black van." Walker said as he kissed Alex, grabbed his hat and headed out the door.

"Right behind you," Trivette answered as he quickly caught up with Walker.

Chapter 11: Cellar where Sydney and Gage were being held

"Sydney, you are small enough to fit out that window," Gage said as he started to reveal his escape plan to Sydney that he had come up with during the night. "I'm gunna boost you up. I want you to get out, and run. Find a phone. Call Walker and come back for me."

"You want me to leave you here? I can go around and open the door and we can escape together."

"That's too dangerous, Syd, they are probably guarding the door. Get out and run into the woods. Use the trees to hide behind and get to a road. Then fine a phone."

"What if they come back for us before I return with help? They will see that I got away and they will kill you." Sydney said.

"Sydney, they need at least one hostage. They aren't going to kill me. . ."

". . .at that time, maybe not. But what if they take you somewhere else? Then what? You will still be held captive, but I will have no idea where and how to get help."

"Sydney, you have to get out of here. Would you rather we both stay here and possibly die together?" Gage said in a semi-irritated tone.

"Two have a better chance than one."

"I don't think they know we are rangers."

"Then if I escape, they will be closer to figuring that out. If they don't think we are rangers, they will drop their guard eventually, at least long enough for us to both get away."

"When we first got here, they said something about selling us."

"Selling us as like slaves or something?"

"I don't know. I think it might be so the people we are being sold to can get ransom. I think these guys were just an intermediate hired job."

"Makes it harder to connect the people who really need us for ransom to be caught." Sydney said.

"That's what I'm thinking."

Sydney had already taken a seat on the cot and was resting her elbows on her knees trying to come up with something. Gage sat down beside her in the same fashion as both junior rangers sat in silent thought trying to figure out what they were going to do next.

Chapter 12: Upstairs from where Gage and Sydney were At about 7 AM John Slim had sent his brother Harold Colburn to meet with Carl, Ned, Greg and Bob about retrieving the people they were going to purchase. Colburn had arrived and began to look at pictures of the hostages that the other men had taken and got developed at a one-hour photo joint that was open twenty-four hours prior to Colburn's arrival.

"He's a big guy." Colburn said to the four captors.

"Yeah, and tough too." Carl commented.

"But his downfall is the fact that he is sweet on the girl," Ned said as he showed Colburn the picture he had taken of Sydney, "and as long as we keep a gun to her head, he'll stay at bay."

"Where are they now?" Colburn asked.

"In the basement." Greg said.

"These two are acceptable. It's too bad we have to kill them though, she's cute."

"And has pep to her." Ned stated.

"What do you mean by that?" Colburn questioned.

"Well, it's nothing, but when we picked them up, they were pretty good at defending themselves."

"Maybe they take karate classes or something." Colburn rationalized.

"Maybe. . ." Ned said in an unsure voice.

"Well, I would say shoot them and find two more, but we haven't time." Colburn added. "I am going to take these pictures to my brother. Hold these two here a little longer. My brother and I will be back to get them later this evening." Colburn said as he grabbed the pictures and headed out the door.

"What do you want us to do with those two until you come back? That cellar gets really hot and they might get really dehydrated. They would be worth nothing to you if they can't move." Greg said.

"Tie them up by the stream," Colburn said as he pointed to the river not far from the house, "make sure they can't talk either. All we need is someone to hear them yelling or something. They can catch the breeze by the river till I get back." On that note, Colburn jumped in his '99 red Ford Taurus and sped off.

"That guy is a moron if he wants to let them out." Carl said.

"We are getting paid to do what he says and that is all that matters." Ned responded.

"Assuming they are still here when he gets back." Greg said.

"They are a couple two people with no weapons. We are four people with many weapons. What's the worst that could happen?" Ned asked.

"You realize if we shoot them, we won't get paid, right?" Carl asked.

"Yeah, but the two of them don't know it." Ned said as the four men went to get Gage and Sydney for their trip to the stream.

To be continued.


	4. Search Party part 4

Disclaimers: I do not own or lay claim to Walker, Texas Ranger or the characters Walker, Gage, Sydney, Trivette or Alex. This was written for entertainment purposes only.

Search Party Part 4

Chapter 13: Copy Center

Walker and Trivette had headed to the copy center that the letter to the governor was faxed from with the hope of finding someone who had seen a black van and the men who came in it. Though it seemed like a long shot, if it brought the two senior rangers any closer to finding their colleagues, then it would be worth it.

"Hello Rangers," the woman behind the counter said as the men walked through the door, "something I can help you boys with? Need something copied or faxed?"

"Actually," Trivette piped up, "we need some information about some people who faxed something from here to the governor's office early this morning."

"Well, we open at 5 AM, and there has only been one fax today," the woman said as she shuffled through some scatter sheets of paper on the counter. "Ahh," she said as she found the slip she was looking for. She handed the paper to Walker as she said, "Is this the number to the governor's office?"

After quickly looking at the number Walker responded, "Yeah, this is it. Do you know the men who had something faxed to this number?"

"I had never seen them before but they said they would be back."

Walker and Trivette would have planned a stake out at the copy center if they were sure that Sydney and Gage would not be harmed before the next letter was sent. However, since this hope could not be promised, both rangers thought about other alternatives that might bring them to the kidnappers quicker.

Finally, Walker spoke, "Do you have surveillance cameras?"

"Yea, we do." The woman answered.

"Could we have this mornings tape?" Trivette asked.

"Of course," the woman said as she ran into the back room. Moments later, she came back out and handed the rangers the video tape.

"Thanks." Trivette said.

Hoping that the tape might help them unlock the mystery of whom the kidnappers were, the two rangers headed back to headquarters.

Chapter 14: Gage and Sydney's Prison

Sydney and Gage were beginning to orchestrate an escape plan. The way the two rangers saw the situation was, if one of them had a chance to escape and get help, it might be the only plausible way to try and save the pair. Though Sydney did not like the idea of leaving Gage alone and unarmed, she saw no other way of them escaping. Her only hope was to escape and get back with help before their captors ever noticed she had left.

"Are you ready for this, Shorty?" Gage asked Sydney trying to lighten the mood.

Sydney half smiled at the pet name Gage was using for her as she said, "Don't call me that, Francis and boost me up before I change my mind."

Gage lifted himself from the cot and walked over to where Sydney was standing underneath the window. Sydney hooked her fingers on the window sill waiting for Gage to offer his hand for her to step on so that she could quickly open the window and jump out. Much to her surprise, instead of offering his hand for her to step on, Gage instead put his hand on her shoulder.

Sydney whipped her head around to look at him and said, "What? What's wrong?"

Gage turned her around and pulled her into an embrace. "Just in case you don't get back in time," he whispered, "know that I really care about you, Syd."

Sydney looked at Gage in amazement. Then, without thinking, she put her hands around his neck and pulled him into a gentle kiss. "I will get back in time, Francis," she said as she broke the kiss. She then placed her hands on the window sill again as Gage offered his palm for her to stand on.

Just as Sydney was about to open the window, the door at the top of the stairs creaked open. The two rangers stared at each other wondering how they were going to not only escape but one other key fact.

"Our handcuffs," Gage quietly said to Sydney as he grabbed her around the waist pulling her away from the window just as two of their captors came into view as they tramped down the stairs.

Chapter 15: Ranger Headquarters

Walker and Trivette rushed back to ranger headquarters hoping that something on the surveillance tape from the copy center might bring them closer to finding their fellow rangers. Just as Trivette was about to press play on the tape, Alex came into the Company B office to see if the men had come up with any new leads.

"Did you guys find anything?" Alex asked.

"We have a surveillance tape from the copy center." Trivette answered.

"Will that help us at all?"

"Well," Walker began, "when I looked at where the camera was positioned near the door, I could see that it shown a little of the parking lot. So if we are lucky, we can get a glimpse of the kidnappers getting out of a black van and hopefully run it through the police database and find a name."

The three watched the tape in fast forward and, sure enough as Walker had mentioned, they were able to see two men getting out of a black van that was caught on the tape.

"Stop!" Walker shouted to Trivette. "We have a good glimpse of their faces there. Get this tape down to intelligence and get the picture. Then find us a name to go with it." At that point, Trivette snagged the tape from the VCR and ran out the office door on his errand.

"Think Gage and Sydney are still okay, Walker?" Alex asked.

"We are going to find them." Walker said adamantly. "The question is, can we find them in time?"

Chapter 16: The Cellar where Gage and Sydney are

"Hey!" One of the captors shouted towards their prisoners. "What is going on here?"

At this point, Gage had pulled Sydney into a hug with his back to the men hoping that they wouldn't notice that they were no longer confined to handcuffs. "I am just hugging my wife." Gage said in a matter of fact tone.

Sydney played along knowing that if they could get their captors minds confused enough, they would be able to get the better of them and take them down. "What do you want from us?"

"Listen lady," Ned, one of the captors began, "we are just doing our jobs so stop whining. Come on, you two are going outside for the day." At this point, he grabbed Gage's shoulder and pushed him into the wall. He then immediately grabbed Sydney and held a gun to her head as he pushed her up the stairs.

"You too," Greg the other captor who had come in with Ned said as he pointed a gun at Gage. "And I swear I will shoot her if you do anything stupid. So don't try it." He yelled at Gage as he prodded him up the stairs.

The two men took the pair outside in the back yard and over to a 6 foot barbed wire fence. Next to the fence were two relatively tall metal poles with a hook on each of them. "We used to tie the dogs to these, but for today, the dogs won't mind if you use them." Ned said as he laughed at his buddy. "Hey Greg, weren't these two cuffed before?"

It was at this point that Sydney and Gage noticed they would have the best chance of getting away. At the same exact time, the two rangers each began to fight the man closest to them. The men put up a little bit of a fight, but Gage and Sydney were able to take them down with some choice kicks and punches. The two rangers forced the men to their feet and began to walk back towards the house to find a phone and call for assistance.

All of a sudden a shot rang out and both rangers turned around to see their two other captors along with two other men they had never seen before holding a blonde woman against her will as she tried to struggle to get away.

"I don't know who you two are," Carl, the captor with the gun, said as he walked toward Sydney and Gage, "but we sure as hell are going to find out." Carl pointed his gun at Gage as Sydney stared in disbelief wondering if he really was going to shoot her partner right in front of her.

To be continued. . .

***AUTHOR'S NOTE**** I am SO sorry for the delay on this chapter and I will try not to leave you hanging for long about the ending. If you are still reading along, I am really glad that you are staying with my story. It means a lot.


	5. Search Party part 5

Disclaimers: I do not own or lay claim to Walker, Texas Ranger or the characters Walker, Gage, Sydney, Trivette or Alex. This was written for entertainment purposes only.

Search Party Part 5

Chapter 17: Ranger Headquarters

Within an hour of Trivette stepping out of the company B office door, he was running back in with names of the two men that they seen in the surveillance video.

"Okay, Walker. The two men in the video are Ned Barker and Carl Radley," Trivette began as he walked up to where Walker was seated at his desk. "Both have minor scrapes with the law, a few breaking and entering charges, some assault charges. Barker did a year in Huntsville for possession and was released in January. Radley was in about the same time for armed robbery."

"Do we have addresses on either of them?" Walker asked.

"They were both set up in the same half way house and both left in March. The addresses they fed their parole officers are phony. So for about a month, they have just seemed to have disappeared. However, I cross referenced everyone else who may have been released around the same time and I found two other names of people who were released within a month of these two who were also sent to the same half way house. One of them, Bob Harlowe also has vanished, but Greg Gordon I have a viable address for."

"Where is it located?" Walker asked.

"A farm house on the outskirts of Dallas about a half and hour away." Trivette answered.

Just then, Alex came running into the office. "I have some news, guys." She began as she handed Walker some pictures and a note. "These arrived via messenger to the governor's office twenty minutes ago."

Walker flipped through and saw pictures of Gage and Sydney in a small cement room. The note said, "They are alive for now. Our demands are safe passage into the next state and 3 million dollars. The account number where the money should be deposited is listed below. We want safe passage through border checkpoint four into Arkansas. Once the money has been deposited and we are safely across the border, we will tell you where you can find the two hostages."

"In the pictures, it looks like they could be in the basement of the farmhouse you have an address for. Let's check it out. Alex, don't give into these demands just yet. We may have found them." Walker said as he grabbed his black Stetson and headed out the door.

Chapter 18: Yard of the Farmhouse

"Don't shoot!" Sydney cried out.

"Okay, little lady," Carl said, "I won't shoot him, yet."

"Who are these two you guys picked up?" John Slim, the mastermind behind the entire kidnapping asked the four men who were working for him.

"We don't know," Bob started, "but they are not an ordinary married couple."

The captors grabbed Sydney and Gage and cuffed them to the posts so that they could pump them for information and also to keep them from trying to escape again.

"We don't have time for this!" Slim yelled. "We are supposed to be out of the state by now. But since I cant trust you people to kidnap and kill a few people and dispose of their bodies where I need them to be found, I guess I'm going to have to kill them and leave them here."

"You can't kill them and leave them here! I'll be charged with murder!" Greg shouted noting that this is his property.

"Plus, no one is killing anyone else until we see some green." Ned started.

While the captors argued amongst themselves, Sydney and Gage struggled to free themselves from their handcuffs but to no avail. The other hostage who the men had most recently kidnapped was sitting on the ground next to Gage and Sydney.

"Hey, what's your name?" Gage asked the girl.

"Leann," she shyly answered.

"You aren't hand cuffed and I have the keys in my shirt pocket to these hand cuffs. Do you think you could help us out?" Gage questioned.

"I don't know. If they see me helping you, they will kill me. I knew dating this guy would be a bad idea. . ." the girl said as she wrapped her arms around her knees.

The men were still arguing about thirty feet away from the prisoners so Sydney began to grill the girl for information. "Who are these guys?"

"The one in charge is John Slim. I have been dating him for a little while. Turns out his brother is wanted for murder and John is helping him escape from the cops. You guys are only here to throw the cops off. They are gunna kill you as soon as they stop arguing. And they are taking me with them for insurance purposes. No one will hurt them if I'm with them."

"Why don't you help us out and we promise we will help you out." Gage said.

"What can you do?"

"Uncuff us and we'll show you."

The woman quietly took the keys from Gage's breast pocket of his shirt and slipped them into his hands and then quickly sat down again. Gage undid his and Sydney's cuffs making sure not to let on that they were free.

"Gage, look," Sydney stated as she tilted her head back nodding toward the house. Walker and Trivette were hiding around the corner of the house waiting to take the men down.

"Okay," Slim said as the six men came over towards Gage, Sydney and Leann. "the time has come to release you, so to speak. We don't need you anymore." Gage and Sydney were still pretending they are attached to the posts.

"But before we end your lives," Ned said as he flipped Sydney's hair and Bob put his arm around Gage's shoulders, "we have to know, who are you?"

"We would be Texas Rangers," Sydney firmly stated, "and you are all under arrest."

At this point Trivette and Walker had come up behind the men and each flew into two of them. Trivette threw punches and jabs at Greg and Carl, easily taking both men down. Gage flung Bob off of him and with a few hard kicks to his midsection took the man down. Walker took on Slim and Colburn and, though both men were stubborn, then both went down without much of a fight.

Sydney took the liberty of elbowing Ned in the chin and used her fighting skills to take him to the ground. Once he was down for good, she looked at him and said, "Not bad for a little lady, eh?" Gage put his arm around her shoulders as she leaned into him while they both shared a chuckle at her comment.

Trivette helped Leann up as Walker headed towards his Ram to call for back up.

Chapter 19: CD's Bar and Grill later that evening

After all that had transpired over the past day, the group went to CD's to unwind and celebrate the safe return of Sydney and Gage.

"Well," Trivette began, "I bet those accommodations must have really great in that cellar you were in."

"Yeah, Trivette, the accommodations would have been great it we had been in prison for ten years prior." Gage commented.

"Oh, I'm sure it was awful." Alex commented.

Sydney's mind wandered back to the moment in the cellar when Gage and her had shared a kiss and an embrace.

"Are you all right, Sydney?" Walker asked noticing she seemed distant.

"Fine," she stated snapping back to reality. Suddenly she got up and said, "I'm sorry. I have to go. I am really beat." And like that, she flew out the door.

Gage looked at the rest of the people at the table and quickly said, "I'll see you guys later." And also left CD's.

After hurrying out the door hoping to catch Sydney, he looked around and noticed Sydney standing against the building a little to the left of the windows. "Are you okay?" Gage asked her as he trotted to stand beside her.

She was so unsure of what had happened between her and Gage. After a minute of silence, she looked at him and said, "what happened in that basement between us. . ."

"Would have been much better if it wasn't in a basement." Gage interjected.

"Do you really care about me, Gage? Or was what we said only said because we thought we might die?"

"I really care about you, Syd." Gage said as he stepped closer to her and smiled.

"Just checking," she said.

"Do you really care about me?" he asked as he positioned himself only inches away from her.

"I guess so," she said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Hey!" Gage said as his jaw dropped acting surprised that her response wasn't as genuine as his was to her. "You better care about. . ."

"Gage?" she interrupted.

"Yeah?"

She began to softly laugh as she took one hand, grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him towards her. "Kiss me." She said as once again their lips were locked.

From the window, Trivette and Alex had crowded around, they could see the two junior rangers sharing their intimate moment. "Walker, get over here and look at this!" Trivette said.

"I don't want to. I am not nosy like the two of you." Walker said as he remained at the table sipping his coffee.

"We are not nosy!" both Alex and Trivette shouted in unison.

All Walker could do was stare at them and laugh.


End file.
